Apparatus for wrapping up articles of parallelepiped form



R. LEUMNN.

APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING UP ARTICLES 0F PARALLELEPIPED FORM.

APPLICATION FJbED OCT. 29. 1919.

- n. LEUMANN. APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING UP ARTICLES 0F PARALLELEPIPED FORM.

APPKLICATION FAILED 0CT 29. ISIS.

Patented May 17,1921.

3 SHEETs-SHEET 2.

R. LEUMANN.

APPARATUS FOR WRAPPINGUP ARTICLES 0F PARALLELEPIPED FORM.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 29. 1919.

Patented May 17, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD LEUMANN', 0F `CHAILLY-SUR-llASAQITITE, SWITZERLAND.

APPARATUS FORWRAPPING tir ARTICLES or PARALLELEPIPED FORM.

p Application filed october 29; 1919. serial No. 334,290.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, Risi-IARD LEUMANN, a citizen of the Republic of Switzerlan'd,'re siding at Chaillysur-Lausanne, Villa La Loex, Switzerland,` have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Wrapping up Articles of Parallele piped Form; and l do hereby declare the following to be a clear, full, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable 5 othei's skilled in the art to which it appertains to` make and use the saine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings., and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisV specifi- 1 cation.

rIhis invention has reference to apparatus for wrapping up articles Vof parallepiped form wherein by means of ya folding member provided for the formation of a closing flap,

side flaps necessary for the formation of said flap Vare preliminarily folded with a common peak or point lying in the central plane v"of thelarticle, the side vflaps beingl turned over afterward so as ,to overlap each other by passing theml `along guide surfaces. rlhe characteristic feature of the improved method of wrapping consists 'in the fact thatthe peak or point is deflected from the central plane and is turned over with one of the side flaps in the contrary direction to that in which the other side flap has been 1 previously turned or folded over so as to cause it to bear against the article, whereby lthe folding line, caused 4by folding over the peak or point is so selected that the joint forming thepoint or peak of the two side flaps upon the folding overcome into contact at one spot that islocated approxi-A mately in the ,central plane, the arrangement being such lthat both said means come'i'into opei'ation beforethe two side flaps folded over are ypressed upon one another,

The accompanying drawings show appairatus" suitable for carryingout the' method y Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May i7,

ofwrapping accordingv to the invention, in

a constructional form by way of example. v

Figure l shows a section of the lapparatus on the line I-I of Fig.-3;

Fig. 2 shows on an enlarged scale a p0rtion-of Fig. l;

Fig. ais a Section on the im@ iii-iii ofF ig. l; l y

Figs. 4 and 5 show details upon a larger scale. f f

Fig. 6 is a section corresponding to the line VI-VI of Fig. 4. i

Fig. 7 is a section corresponding to the line VII- VII of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is anend viewlooking the directioii of the arrow VIII of' Fig.4. o

Figs. 9, lOia'nd 11 showdetails vupon a from the left and right respectively `and Fig. 11 being a front elevation. w y

Figs. 12 to l5 are perspective .views illusflarger scale, Figs. 9 and 10 being side views trating the different stages of the wrapping y f process.

.Figa lGis an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the channel 59. j n

Fig'. 17 is a plan view showing the final .folding surfaces 59EL of the channel 59.

Referring to theldrawings, 8O (Fig. 3)]

so'r

designates a driving pulleymounted on a l shaftSl. The latter drives by means of a toothed wheel gearing 82 a shaft 83 (Figs. l and 3)'which drives, in its turn, a shaft 84 by means of a toothed wheel gearing 85 (Figs. 2,13,r l). On the shaft 84; is fixed a disk 8G provided with a laterally projecting pin 87 adapted to drive a Maltese-cross88 which is fixed to a shaft l.y Rigidly connected to the disk 8G is a disk 89 provided with arrecess andadaptedto cooperate with the curved portions 91 of the Maltesecross 8S.. On the shaftl isfurther fixed a toothed wheel 92 yirieshing with a toothed wheel 93" which in its'turn meshes with a toothed wheel 94 mounted on a shaft 95. On

the latterk is also Vinoiint'ed a paper-feed roller 96.

Upon the rotary shaftl there Vis also rig- V idly xed a disk 2 formedwith marginal incisionsaiidprovided with six symmetrically arranged fixed jaws 3.r Guides 4f with par-- disk 2 `in such a way that the rods 5 'of plungers 6 can move therein to and fro in a rafallel sliding surfaces are arranged upon the dial direction. The disk2 also carries pins i f on which are mountedy movable jaws 8 which are attached to double levers 9, 10 the arms 9 of which are so influenced by springs 11 that the jaws 8 constantly tend to 'approach the jaws 3, consequently the jaws 3 and 8 constitute six pairs of tongs or gripers. p 12 (Fig. 1) is a roll on which paper intended for wrapping purposes is mounted and from which a band or strip of paper 13 passes over rollers 71, then between the roller 96 and a roller 971 andiinally through.

mounted on a shaft 74. The arm 731 is op-` eratively connected to two rods 75, 76, the one of which is connected at the other end to one leg of the shears 16, while the second rod is connected at its other end to the second leg of the shears 16.

20 is a cap with an opening 22 through which the article 21 to be wrapped up is introduced in a direction parallel to the axis of the shaft 1, from anendless member 97 passing over a roller 98 receiving its drive from the shaft 83 by means of a chain 99. Theintroducing of the articles into the cap 20 vis effected by a lever 100 pivotally mounted on a shaft 101 and carrying a roller 102 (Fig. 3) coperating with a laterally protruding surface 103 of the cam-disk 72 in order` to bring aboutY 'its oscillation, Through the opening 22 an oscillating thrust arm 23 can pass into the interior of the cap 20 and beyond it close up to the tongs or grippers 3 8 located at the moment in line with the cap 20. The arm 23 which is pivotally mounted on a shaft 104 carries a roller 105 running in a cam-groove 106 of a disk 107 which is fixed to the shaft 83 and which, upon its rotation, causes an oscillation of said arm 23.

24, 25 are upper guide rollers and 26 is a lower guide roller for the article to be wrapped. 27 is an arc shaped guide plate,

Mounted to rock about a fixed axis 28 is a double lever 29, 30 one end of which carries an angle plate 31, while at the other end theL lever is attached to an angle piece 32 which, in its turn, is articulated to a guide rod 33 moved up and down by an angle lever 108. To the latter is pivotally connected a rod 109 which at its other end is pivotally connected to the arm 23.

Mounted to rock on a second fixed axis 34 is a double lever 35, 36 which is attached at one end to the guide rod 33 and at the other end carries a fork-shaped folder 37 (Fig. 5). Each of the two prongs of the folder is of wedge shape and has adjacent to the flap face 39 two symmetrical converging surfaces 40 and 41 (Fig. 9), which meet together at the edges 38 and 38, so that a nose 38 is formed. From the face 39 to the nose 38 the fork is rounded olf and forms a small surface 38', which faces toward the disk 2. The nose 38 which is farther removed from the plane of the disk 2 than the face 39, is furthermore so located that a per` pendicular from the nose 38 upon the plane of the disk 2 does not impinge upon the disk 2 itself but upon its extension.

The arrangement is such that the nose 38 at the end of an oscillation stroke of the folder 37 lies in the central plane 48-48` (Fig. 14) of the article which at the moment is carried past the folder at this point.

A carrier 42 (Figs. 4, 6, 7 8) has rigidly mounted thereon guide surfaces 43 and 44; two such carriers are provided with the guide surfaces at such a distance from each other that the tongs or grippers 3, 8 with the articles gripped by them can pass between the pair of guide surfaces 43, 44. The two guide surfaces 43, 44 are doubly bent and the guide surface 43 located nearest to the shaft 1 is inclined in relation to the other guide surface 44. The curve or bend of the two guide surfaces is composed of a curve which runs concentrically to the periphery of the disk 2 and-of a curve which extends transversely to the said concentric curve. The inclination of the two guide surfaces 43, 44 in relation to each other is of a changing character, as may be seen from Figs. 4 and 7, the inclination being strongest at the point 46 and weakest at the point 47. rlhe point 47 lies, like the point 46, in the central plane 48 of the article being wrapped but closer to the latter than the point 46. The decrease in inclination from the point 46 to the point 47 is not uniform, and the surface '43 is bent more strongly in a transverse direction to the periphery of the disk than the guide surface 44. The edge 45 of the guide surface 43 isV throughout closer'to the plane'of the disk 2 thanthe edge 49 0f the guide surface 44V which edge up to the point 50 is approximately parallel to the edge 43.

In this wav thereis formed between the two edges a gap 52 which, in the longitudinal direction, is approximately concentric to the axis of the shaft 1v and the cross-section of which is inclined to the central plane 48-48 of the article which plane upon the rotation of the disk 2 is always parallel to the axis of the shaft 1.` The point 46, that is to say the commencement or mouth of the gap 52 lies, as may be seen from Fig. 5, somewhat beyond the end of the path of oscillation of the folder so that the noses of 55. The two guide'surfaces 43 and 44-um`te in a surface 54 confining a portion of the enlargement 53.l The surface 54 is of approximately conical shape,`as the edge'55 is farther removed from the article than the boundary line 56, at which the surface 54 passes over into the plane 57, which latter lies quite close to the articleasfthe same travels past. The transition of the takes place more abruptly than that of the guide surface 44, as the point 47 is situated y107 rotates.

The method of operation and working of n n y f coperate with the part 42 shown but-with the apparatus described is as followsz,v

The article moved into the gap 20 isy pushed forward bythe thrust arm 23 so that it carries alongthe piece of paper 17 in which it is to be wrapped and, passingk between the guide rollers ,24, `25', 26,v is pushed in between the cheeks or jaws 3 ,and 8 of the grippers. The size ofthe piece of v paper and the distance of the s'top19from the feed aperture are such that the article is covered on three side surfaces by the paper while a portion of the latter extends beyond andhangs over thek article and upon the k'gripper which holds the article passing into the neXt position kto do which it must move through an angle of 60o, which movement is effected by the intermittent partial rotation of the disk 2 brought about by the parts 86, 87, 88, 89. The projecting length of the paper slides past the guide plate 27 and isfolded over thereby; the folded end portion is then pushed by the angle plate 31 between the jaws 3, 8 and is caused to overlap the other edge of the piece of paper. v;

Upon la further kpartial rotation of the disk 2 through anangle of 600, the grippers 3, 8 pass into the position in which by means of the folder 37 the side flaps 61, 62 necessary forthe formation of the closing iiaps 60 (Figs. 14 and 15) and provided with a common peak or point 63 (Fig. 12) lying in the central plane 48--48 of the article are preliminarily folded. The preliminary folding is effected through the folder 37 at the opposite sides of the article, swinging down upon the parts of thepaper projectling laterally over the article, in the following manner: Thedimensionsof the article, measured from the one central vline 48 to the other `centralline 48 (Fig. 14) corresponds approximately` to the distances between the fiat surfaces 39 ofthe two prongs of the folder 37, whereby afcertain amount of play is provided between each flat sur face 39 and the adjacent surface ofthe article. Each prong alters the parallele- ;v piped form of the projecting portion ofthe pieces of paper into that shown in Fig. 12,

as the flat surface 39 presses the upper flaps of the paper upon the article and the nose and bends it out thus forming the peak or 4point 63, while the two side flaps 61 and 62 guide surfaces 43 into the conic surface 54 c ear upon the two surfaces 40 and 41. VIt

will be understood that upper and lower are terms with reference to Fig. 12; kThe surface 38 at thesalne time permits a transition from the even surface of theflaps bearing .upon the article to the point or peak 63.

F'g. 5 shows the relative position of the folder 37, of the article and of the part 42,

after fthe preliminary folding has been effect- `ed,it,being duly observed that the folder prong shown and the flaps 61 and 62 `do not that lying opposite; inother words, it isv ing with the ortions of the folder vprong shown in full ines has been removed. T he assumed that the `front portion 42 coperatv y nose 381and consequently the peak 63 have `peaks 63 lie to thevfront in the direction of movement. The arrangement isl such that the guide surface 43` then comes first into operation and commences to lay on to the article the lateral flap 62 lying against it.r

At the same time the peak enters into the gap 52; the edge 45V of the guide surface 43, which at the point-46 lies closer to `the axis 1 than the point of the peak, begins to gradually bend over the lateral flapl 62 (Fig, f Y

13), the deviationv or deflection of the peak being thereby assisted in .that the other lateral Hap T61 begins tobe folded over in' a direction contrary to that in which the side fiap-62 is bent over by the guide surface 44. l

The side flap 62'is thus pressed more and more closely to the article by the gu1desur ,face 43 up to the point 47 where the edge 45 has bent into the sharply folded over peak a folding line64 shown in Fig. 14, which figure shows the side iapsf61 and 62 after they have been folded one 'upon the other .and after the-flapf61 has been completely folded over by the guide surface 44. The folding line 64, asit has been produced byv the point 47 of the vedge 45, runs in such wise that :the point of intersection 66 of the line f 64 with the folding line 65 (Fig. 14) ofthe side flap 62 is located approximately in the central plane 48*48 of the article, as the point 47 of the edge 45 has come last in con-` tact with the folding line 65.

Upon the further forward movement of the disk 2, the tip of the point or peak passes into the enlargement 53. rl`he edge 55 is at a greater distance from the adjacent surface ofthe article 21 to be wrapped than the tip cf the peak. Consequently, upon the further.

forward movement of the article, the tip of the peak comes in contact with the surface 54 and by this latter is gradually conducted upon the plane 57. New if the article itself passes by the plane 57 closely adjoining it, then the two side flaps will be pressedfirmly upon the article thus forming lthe. foldingv line 67, and at the samen time they are pressed flat.

The wrapping then appears as shown in' Fig. 14 and in order to be given the final form shownin Fig. 15, all that is `necessary is to fold the closing flap 60 over upon the ready wrapped article which is ejected into `the guide 59 out of the jaws through .the oscillating arm 58 and plunger G at' the next stopping point, which is situated diametri cally `opposite the point of introduction. The article is fed from said guide 59 further forward gradually through the articles fol-` lowing on in order of succession. This folding over of the closing flaps 6() upon thearti-` cle accordingto Fig. 15 is eifectedby means of oblique surfaces 59a located at both sides of the guide 59.

The advantage of the apparatus described consists in the fact that the closingfla can be made in a very neat manner. Hit erto this closing fiap has been so made that the preliminary folded covering shown in Fig. l2 is guided, in order to fold-v over theside iiap, past inclined guide surfaces with the peak 63 turned toward the rear.

It will be clear that, without a prior fold-` ing over of the peak or point on one of the two side flaps, which process has hitherto not been known at all, it is not possible to fold over in one and the same plane these two side flaps, which overlap at the top andv come into contact at the bottom in the form of a point or peak, without crushing or distorting this point. The folding over of the` peak in a regular manner in such wise that' What I claim new as my invention is:

l. An apparatus for wrapping articles of parallelepiped form, comprising means for gripping the article to be wrapped, `means for moving the article to be wrapped against the wrapper, and then moving both article and` wrapper into said gripper', means for stepping the gripper past a folding surface to bend the projecting edge of the wrapper at. right angles, means fortucking the edge of the wrapper into the gripper to overlap the opposite edge of the wrapper, endfolding mechanism folding the endsv into peaks at substantially the middle of the ends and means to'fold the peaks over onto the back 80 ofthe package as it is discharged from the gripper. v

2. An apparatus for wrapping articles of parallelepiped form, comprising means for gripping the article to be wrapped up, means for intermittently moving said first mentioned means together with the article, means adapted to wrapapiece of paper around the four longitudinal side surfaces of the article to be wrapped up partly before it is grippedV by the first mentioned means i and partly while it is intermittently moved by said secondly mentioned means,` a folder adapted to be moved relatively to the means `grippingr the article to be wrapped` up, said folder95 forming upon its movement two pairs of side flaps necessary for the Vformation of they closing flaps of the wrapperin such wise that said iaps are provided witha common peak lying in the central plane of the article, means adapted to deflect upon a movement of the gri ing means holding the article surroundedjiiy thepiece ofpaper, each peak from the central plane toward the side flap that has to be first turned over and fold the side flaps such wise that the two side flaps of each closing flap are coming in contact upon their turning over by the last mentioned means at a point lying approximately in the central plane of the article, and means adapted to fold the closing flaps over upon the ready wrapped article when the latter has been released by the means holding and advancing it during the wrapping operation.

3. An apparatus for wrapping articles of parallelepiped form,`comprising means for gripping the article to be wrapped up, means for intermittently moving Vsaid first mentioned means together with the article, means gripping the article to be wrapped up, two

guide members, means operatively connected to the means for intermittentlymoving the gripping means and adaptedto move the folder and the gripping means, while they hold the article between the prongs of the folder, past said guide members, each of the latter comprising two curved guide surfaces that are separated from each other by a gap inclined in cross-section to the central plane of the article, one of the curved guide surfaces of each of said two members coming first into action in that it immediately approaches the ath corresponding to the plane of the side o the article which is moved past and begins to press one side flap of two side flaps formed by said folder at each side of the article toward the adjacent side of the latter, after which the other side flap is gradually laid over the said Vfirst mentioned side flap by the second guide surface which is removed farther from the said path, whereby an edge, formed by the first named guide surface and the adjacent wall of the gap is so formed that it bends-in kthe first named side flap at a point which lies approximately in the central plane of the article, and means adapted to fold the two side flaps on each side of the article over upon the ready wrapped article when the latter has lbeen released by the means gripping it during the wrapping operation.

4. An apparatus for wrapping articles of parallelepiped form, comprising means for gripping the article to be wrapped up,

means for intermittently moving said first mentioned means together with the article,

means adapted to wrap a piece' ofpaper around the four longitudinal side surfaces of the article to Vbe wrapped up partly before it is gripped bythe first mentioned means and partly while it is intermittently moved by said secondly mentioned means, a fork-shaped folder adapted to be oscillated relatively to said means gripping the articlev to be wrapped up, two guide members, means operatively connected to the means for intermittently moving the gripping means and adapted to move the folder and the gripping, means, while they hold the article between the prongs of the folder, past said guide members, each of the latter comprising two curved Guide surfaces that are separated from eac other by a gap inclined in cross-section to the central plane of the article and commencing somewhat before the point where the stroke of the folder ceases and terminating at a point where the two curved guide surfaces ofeach member pass over into one single surface which latter surface gradually ap# by said folder at each side of the article toward the adjacent side of the latter, after which the other side flap is gradually laid over said first mentioned side iiap `by the second guide surface which is removed farther from the said path, whereby an edge, formed by the first named guide surface and the adjacent Wall of the gap is so formed that it bends-in the first named'side flap at a point which lies approximately in the central plane of the article, and means adapted to fold the two side flaps on each side of the article over upon the ready wrapped article when the latter has been released by the means gripping it during the wrapping operation.

' 5. An apparatus for wrapping articles'fof parallelepiped. form, comprising means for wrapping a piece of paper around the lon-v Y pers said folder is oscillated in the direction of rotation of the grippers, two guide members past which thepivotally mounted folder and the rotatably mounted grippers are adapted to be moved, each of said guide A members comprising two curved guidesurfaces that are separated from each other by a gap inclined in cross-section to the central plane of the article, said gap and the edges ofthe guide members confining it being arranged concentrically to thev axis about which the' grippers can be rotated, and one of the curved guide surfaces of each of said two members coming first into action in that it immediately approaches the path corresponding to the plane of the side of the article which is moved past and begins to press onesideflap of two side fiaps formed by said folder at each vside of the article toward the adjacent side of the latter, after which the other side flap is gradually laid over'the said first mentioned side Hap bv the second guide surface which is removed farther from the said path, whereby an edge, formed by the first named guide surface and the adjacent wall of the `gap is so formed that it bends-in the first named side iiap at a point which lies approximately in the centralplane of the article, and. means" adapted to fold thetwo side flaps on each side of the' article over upon the ready wrapped article when the latter has been released by the means gripping it during the wrapping operation. Y

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name.

RICHARD LEUMANN. 

